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Student Researcher (Foundation Model - Speech Understanding) - 2025 Start (PhD)

AT TikTok
TikTok

Student Researcher (Foundation Model - Speech Understanding) - 2025 Start (PhD)

San Jose, CA

Responsibilities

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and its offices include New York, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Why Join Us
Creation is the core of TikTok's purpose. Our platform is built to help imaginations thrive. This is doubly true of the teams that make TikTok possible.
Together, we inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we all believe in and aim towards achieving every day.
To us, every challenge, no matter how difficult, is an opportunity; to learn, to innovate, and to grow as one team. Status quo? Never. Courage? Always.

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At TikTok, we create together and grow together. That's how we drive impact - for ourselves, our company, and the communities we serve.
Join us.

Team Introduction

With a long-term vision and a strong commitment to the AI field, the team conducts research in a range of areas including natural language processing (NLP), computer vision (CV), and speech recognition and generation. It has labs and researcher roles in China, Singapore, and the US.

Leveraging substantial data and computing resources and through continued investment in these domains, our team has built a proprietary general-purpose model with multimodal capabilities. In the Chinese market, Doubao models power over 50 apps and business lines, including Doubao, Coze, and Dreamina, and was launched to external enterprise clients through Volcano Engine. The Doubao app is the most used AIGC app in China.
The speech team's mission is to empower content understanding, interaction and creation across our company and other products using speech & audio related technologies. We focus on cutting-edge R&D in areas like speech & audio, music processing, natural language understanding and multimodal deep learning. We are looking for top talents to work on these exciting technologies, integrate them into various products and ultimately bring joy to our global user base!

We are looking for talented individuals to join us for a Student Researcher opportunity in 2025. Student Researcher opportunities aim to offer students industry exposure and hands-on experience. Turn your ambitions into reality as your inspiration brings infinite opportunities.

The Student Researcher position provides unique opportunities that go beyond the constraints of our standard internship program, allowing for flexibility in duration, time commitment, and location of work.

Candidates can apply to a maximum of two positions and will be considered for jobs in the order you apply. The application limit is applicable to TikTok and its affiliates' jobs globally. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis - we encourage you to apply early.

Responsibilities:
- Conduct cutting-edge research and development in speech/audio foundation models.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify key research areas and contribute to the development of innovative speech/audio models.
- Work with product development teams to integrate research findings into practical applications for TikTok and other platforms.
- Collaborate on team-driven projects to address complex challenges and enhance the overall effectiveness of the research team.

Qualifications

- Currently pursuing a PhD in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment.

Preferred Qualification
- Publications in top-tier ML/DL venues such as NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, AAAI and speech venues such as ICASSP, ASRU, Interspeech.
- Deep understanding of Large Language models.
- Familiar with distributed computing and large scale model training.
- Familiar with deep learning frameworks such as Tensorflow and Pytorch.
- Familiar with engineering principles and best practices.
- Highly competent in algorithms and programming; Strong coding skills in C/C++ and Python.
- Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, multi-functional environments.

TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.

TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://shorturl.at/cdpT2

Client-provided location(s): San Jose, CA, USA
Job ID: TikTok-7418673769697347849
Employment Type: Other

Perks and Benefits

  • Health and Wellness

    • Health Insurance
    • Dental Insurance
    • Vision Insurance
    • HSA
    • Life Insurance
    • Fitness Subsidies
    • Short-Term Disability
    • Long-Term Disability
    • On-Site Gym
    • Mental Health Benefits
    • Virtual Fitness Classes
  • Parental Benefits

    • Fertility Benefits
    • Adoption Assistance Program
    • Family Support Resources
  • Work Flexibility

    • Flexible Work Hours
    • Hybrid Work Opportunities
  • Office Life and Perks

    • Casual Dress
    • Snacks
    • Pet-friendly Office
    • Happy Hours
    • Some Meals Provided
    • Company Outings
    • On-Site Cafeteria
    • Holiday Events
  • Vacation and Time Off

    • Paid Vacation
    • Paid Holidays
    • Personal/Sick Days
    • Leave of Absence
  • Financial and Retirement

    • 401(K) With Company Matching
    • Performance Bonus
    • Company Equity
  • Professional Development

    • Promote From Within
    • Access to Online Courses
    • Leadership Training Program
    • Associate or Rotational Training Program
    • Mentor Program
  • Diversity and Inclusion

    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
    • Employee Resource Groups (ERG)

Company Videos

Hear directly from employees about what it is like to work at TikTok.